


Touchy Subject (Knock Out x Reader x Breakdown)

by KK_Shadows_Within



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Other, Polyamory, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 01:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7870474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KK_Shadows_Within/pseuds/KK_Shadows_Within
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Knock Out had been avoiding you as you had been avoiding him since Breakdown went offline and it's about time you actually discussed the topic.<br/>Or use Starscream's method. Either could work</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touchy Subject (Knock Out x Reader x Breakdown)

“Are you trying to tempt me into offlining you?” Knock Out finally snapped. The repetitive ‘clicking’ sound you were making was slowly driving him completely insane.

You raised an optical ridge and moved your servo away from the metal berth entirely. “It’s starting to sound like an appealing option if this stupid thing doesn’t speed up. Why is it taking so much longer than usual?”

“It isn’t,” Knock Out hissed through clenched denta. “It’s taking the exact same amount of time that it usually does in order to take a complete armor scan. The main question is, why have you chosen to make this time so aggravating? Why don’t you do whatever used to entertain you the previous times?”

Your optics narrowed fiercely and you glowered at the Decepticon medic. “I don’t think Breakdown is available to distract me this time.”

The comment was uncalled for but you had been wanting to say something that would get through to the medic. From the way his shoulder struts tensed and the air in the room changed, you would presume that your goal had been achieved. A small part of you felt bad and you nearly apologized. Nearly.

It was frustrating, staring at his back and not knowing how to fix the problem.

Everything had changed the solar cycle you heard about Breakdown and Airachnid’s… fight. Knock Out had gone from being a mech that you enjoyed spending time with to one that you actively avoided. He expressed the same notion to you.

You weren’t even sure who had started it originally.

The door to the medical bay slid open, providing what you hoped was a welcome distraction. It turned out to be a rather unwelcomed distraction.

“Are you two still pretending that you’re not fighting despite not meeting each other’s optics?” Starscream asked as he strolled through.

“We’re not fighting Screamer,” you grumbled. “You’re just desperately searching for drama to make your life cycle that much more interesting.”

Starscream raised an optical ridge. “Keep telling yourself that,” he said. He dropped a data pad on the berth next to you. “Go over that, make sure everything’s in order for tomorrow.” He didn’t even glance at Knock Out as he turned on his heel and started to leave. Right before he went through the doors, he shouted over his shoulder, “I find a good frag sorts out most relationship issues!”

He was gone before you could even find something to throw at him.

“He’s being ridiculous,” you muttered under your breath.

“No he’s not,” Knock Out responded. “I’d even go as far as to say that for once in his life, Starscream is actually taking notice of something other than himself.”

You put the datapad down and glared at the red mech. “So you agree with him? We’re having relationship issues and we need to work our issues out through fragging?”

“I don’t know what we need to do,” Knock Out grumbled. He still had his back to you but he had ceased fiddling with whatever was in front of him. “It seems to me that Breakdown was some kind of bonding agent in this relationship. Why else would it be falling apart like this?”

A little bit of the anger you were feeling faded at the question. “I think he was less of a bonding agent and more of a peace maker,” you said with a small laugh. “I don’t believe we ever made it through a fight before without his intervention.”

Knock Out shook his head. “I don’t think so either.”

“These… issues,” you hesitated, wishing that you had a better word. “I don’t think they’re because Breakdown was the only thing holding us together. I think it’s because we haven’t resolved our argument by ourselves.”

“What argument?” Knock Out asked, spinning on you. “We’ve barely spoken since that day, let alone argued.”

“You’re telling me you didn’t blame me the klik you heard the news?” you asked.

Knock Out looked like he was going to deny it but instead he chose to – for once – keep his mouth shut.

“Exactly in the same way I instinctively blamed you,” you continued. “You should have gone with him. I should have been keeping a tighter leash on Airachnid. I don’t still blame you and I don’t know if you still blame me but I think, subconsciously we knew what the other was thinking.”

“When did you become a psychologist?” Knock Out scoffed.

You aimed a sharp kick at him that he dodged quickly to avoid any paint damage. “I’m just trying to make a point,” you said. “Or are you going to deny being so hostile towards me.”

Knock Out huffed and crossed his arms across his chassis. “You’ve been aggressive whenever you’re around me as well. I’ve seen the way your mood swings whenever I’m anywhere near you. Don’t act like it’s just me.”

“I’m not trying to say that!” you snapped. The anger was quickly managing to find its way back inside your tone. “I know that I’ve been unreasonably short with you!”

“Just like I know that I’ve been defensive around you,” Knock Out responded. “Because you are a reminder of Breakdown! The two of you were always hanging around together and now, when I see you I expect him also.”

The snap you had prepared for him died in your vocal cords. The entire paragraph you had in mind diluted down into a small, “Ditto.”

“What?” Knock Out asked.

You sighed. “If I’m around you, for some reason that Primus only knows, I get a strange feeling that Breakdown’s going to be right next to me. It’s ridiculous and unrealistic and stupid but it’s all because I miss him.”

“Maybe he’s deciding to haunt us before moving on to join the Allspark,” Knock Out muttered.

You laughed, a smile appearing on your face for the first time in a long while. “If he did do that, it would probably be to make sure that we didn’t fight.”

“He’s not doing a very good job then,” Knock Out responded bitterly. “We haven’t stopped fighting since he offlined. It would probably be driving him completely crazy to know that we’re arguing as a result of him. It wouldn’t be the first time but…”

“It would be the first time we didn’t lie to him about what the cause of our arguing is,” you volunteered.

Taking a deep breath, you slipped off the berth and gently removed the wires that were plugged into your frame. It stung a bit and the monitor immediately cut off all readings but instead of complaining, Knock Out just watched you cautiously. He was acting as though you were going to attack him without warning.

“You’re right,” you told him. “Breakdown would definitely be upset if he knew we were fighting so much because of him. So I’m asking, would you mind if I kissed you?”

“Kiss me or kill me?” Knock Out asked sarcastically. “Because if your mood swings are an indication of anything –“

You cut him off with a harsh and hard kiss. Knock Out immediately responded and for the first time since Breakdown’s offlining, things actually felt normal. Soft kisses had never been a thing in your relationship with Knock Out and they weren’t going to become anything now.

Knock Out moved away from you first, frowning as if realization had just come over him. “Do you realize that I’m going to have to restart the entire armor scan now?”

You gave him a quizzical look. “I could be wrong about this but don’t you think that’s a slightly strange thing to be thinking about while we’re making out? Not that I’m questioning your priorities or anything but they seem a little off.”

Knock Out glared at you. “It occurred to me when I realized that you were backing up into the table and thus all the cables that you just casually yanked out.”

“As much as I want to believe you…” you trailed off with a teasing smirk when you noticed the look he was giving you. “If we’re going to have to restart the scanning again, can I at the very least go and get something to do like a datapad to read on.”

“This is meant to be done by the next solar cycle!” Knock Out told you. “I don’t plan on sitting here until the very last klik because you need to be entertained.”

You rolled your optics. “It is literally the most boring process ever,” you complained.

Knock Out scoffed. “No it’s not. Clearly you’ve never had to do regular maintenance checks on the Vehicons. It’s not even as if Megatron allows me to fix any errors I find. I’m just meant to make a note of it. There’s literally no point in doing it but I have to anyway and it takes forever. Do you know how many of them there are?”

“Funnily enough, I’ve never quite felt enough self-hatred to do that to myself,” you commented. “And it doesn’t help that so many of them look the same.”

“Exactly!” Knock Out pointed out. “At least you have the ability to find something interesting to keep yourself occupied. If I don’t pay enough attention, Megatron would have my helm.”

“Something like this?” you asked, pulling Knock Out into another kiss. You had to admit that – being so used to receiving lots of romantic attention from both Breakdown and Knock Out – you had grown used to it and being without it for so long was taking its toll.

“I’m never going to get anything done,” Knock Out muttered against your lip components. He was kissing roughly enough that your plating was probably going to start showing signs of it.

It may be a good thing that you were going to be stuck inside the med bay for a while.

You chuckled, causing Knock Out to break away from you. “It’s a little hilarious that Screamer was right about most relationship issues being solved with a good frag. He was actually making sense.”

Knock Out frowned at you. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly fragging.”

“Yet,” you added on with a smirk.

_“Are you being serious?” Sandstorm hissed. “That’s why you’ve been insisting on staying around here for so long. To make sure that the two of them stopped fighting. How is that the ‘super important’ thing you had to deal with?”_

_Breakdown chuckled at the ex-Wrecker’s irritation. “Have you seen those two? If I don’t monitor them, they’ll end up offlining each other. They’re both too stubborn for their own good.”_

_“You can’t hang around here forever just to make sure that they don’t fight,” Sandstorm attempted to argue. “Even if you keep using indirect means of getting them to make up, you’re not going to manage it every time.”_

_“You never know,” Breakdown argued. “They may learn how to communicate properly and then I won’t have to do anything anymore.”_

_“Do you think that’s likely?” Sandstorm asked._

_Breakdown laughed for a good few kliks. “There’s not a chance unless they create something that completely drains the pride out of a bot.”_

_“I would think the first bot who needs to be targeted with that is Starscream,” Sandstorm muttered. He shook his helm. “You know, seeing those two like that makes me feel sorry for Airachnid if she ever ends up on the Nemesis.”_

_Breakdown scoffed, his eye narrowing dangerously. “That spider deserves everything the two of them could possibly inflict on her. If she ends up in their clutches, it will be justice at work.”_

_“You’ve gotten a lot more sadistic since I last saw you alive,” Sandstorm pointed out. “I remember first meeting you when you were more worried about the shadows swallowing you than actually fighting.”_

_Breakdown glowered at him. “Come on. There’s nothing else for me to do now.”_

_“I see I’ve hit a touchy subject,” Sandstorm sang. “Brilliant!”_


End file.
